Why Pep Talks Don’t Work - Grasshopper

Ever watch a coach on the sidelines trying to fire up a player with a big pep talk? You’ve seen how well that usually goes. Spoiler alert: not very.

Here’s why: pep talks and habits don’t speak the same language. Pep talks hit the head. Habits live in the body–the part that actually does the thing.

Muscle memory doesn’t care if someone’s yelling, “C’mon! Focus! You got this!” It just keeps running the same old program.

That’s why people leave motivational seminars feeling like they’re ready to conquer the world . . . and by the next day, the motivation’s gone. It wan’t bad advice–it just never made it to the part of you that takes action.

The truth is, you can get the best advice in the world. But if you don’t follow through, nothing changes.

So what does work? Practice.

Let me give you an example. I was watching a top-ranked tennis player at the U.S. Open. She didn’t play well in the later rounds. And get this–she had changed coaches a week before the tournament, hoping to fix her serve. Now, I don’t know much about tennis, but I know habits. And no matter how good the advice, one week isn’t enough to rewire muscle memory.

It usually takes about three weeks for a new habit to even start to take hold–and only if you’re religious about practicing it.

The mind understands the instructions. But to get through to the body? You need a translator. And that translator is practice–and patience.

So yes, get the coaching, get the guidance, get the counseling. But don’t for a minute think the words alone will transform you. Only action will.

Practice may not make you perfect, but it will perfect your performance.

The great violinist Jascha Heifetz once said, “If I don't practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it.”

And if you ever forget how powerful practice is, remember this old joke. Tourist in New York City stops to ask a cop, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” And the cop says: “Practice.”